Microsoft has been ‘smart’ with Xbox One U-turns, says Titanfall community manager

Respawn community manager Abbie Heppe believes that Microsoft has been “smart” for altering its policies and listening to feedback on Xbox One, telling VideoGamer.com that she’s “glad that they made a lot of the changes that they did”.

Discussing Respawn’s decision to side with Microsoft for the launch of Titanfall, which releases exclusively on Xbox One, Xbox 360 and PC in early 2014, Heppe said that Microsoft has “always been a really good partner for us, so I think it’s been a good choice [to back Xbox One] in many, many ways.

“I mean, we hear it and it’s like, I’m sorry guys, I can’t tell you anything. [Xbox] is where we’re going to be. I think that they have made a lot of decisions in the past… even just weeks. And we’re excited to hear about those things every time they happen and I think that they’re being smart about it and they’re listening to consumers, and I hope that they keep listening.”

One of Microsoft’s recent announcements – the ability to self-publish on Xbox One – wasn’t a reversal on policy, however, but “part of their plan” from the beginning, Heppe says.

“The self-publishing, the indie stuff, was always there,” she continues. “That was just something that I think maybe they did a poor job of messaging before. But that’s always been a part of their plan. As far as shipping the headset, that’s awesome for us because we’re a multiplayer game and we’d rather talk in a headset.”

Heppe also believes that Microsoft’s ability to react to feedback is “very positive” and that it’s good to know that “people are listening”.

“I mean, I’m a community manager and part of my job is listening to fans and part of it is also knowing when you say like, ‘Okay, that’s a good way to do it, and maybe that’s not as good of advice’. So you always want to know that people are listening. I don’t want to think that things are just set in stone and that’s the way it is and it will never change, so I think that that’s actually very positive.

“I see all the people who are like, ‘Oh, now they’re flipping. It’s the Microsoft 180’. If you just want to hate them without any sort of… Then you’re going to do it and you’re going to continue to say like, ‘Well it’s a negative that they listen to fans’. I really don’t want to think that that’s the way the world is. I’d like to think that we can say, you know what, good for them, thanks.”

“I’m glad that they made a lot of the changes that they did,” she added.